Monday 5 May 2014

33: The Quiet Room (2.21)

1979; 48 minutes
Director of Photography Edward Rio Rotunno
Written by Karen Harris/Jill Sherman; Produced by Nicholas Corea;
Directed by Reza S Badiyi

Operating as an attendant at a mental hospital, David notices that one of the senior doctors is pioneering unethical techniques in mind control with the claimed motivation of reducing crime, violent behaviour, etc. Stealing a VHS tape that contains evidence, David attempts to get out of the place altogether, but escape from such a place is never going to be easy if one's intention is to whistle-blow: he is promptly caught, drugged, and put in line for procedures that will effectively lobotomise him, thereby protecting the doctor’s future money-spinner.

David really lands himself in a pickle in this slightly disturbing episode. He spends most of the time drugged up and either attempting to escape or trying to convince one of the other doctors about what is really going on, inadvertently sounding like someone who is genuinely deranged in the process. I thought the story may wander into A Clockwork Orange territory for a while but, probably due to its basis in family television entertainment, the writers refrain from taking the central theme too far.

Number of Fists: ***

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